Celebrity book clubs, which first emerged in 1996, have increased in popularity over the past few years. These clubs — such as Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show Book Club, Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf, and Reese Witherspoon’s Reese’s Book Club — offer diverse and interesting recommendations, and often transform underappreciated novels into bestselling books.

Through her book club, Reese Witherspoon helped draw attention to the contemporary novels Little Fires Everywhere — which centers around the notion of motherhood — by Celeste Ng and Daisy Jones and The Six — a story that follows a fictional band modeled on Fleetwood Mac — by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Reese’s book club was instrumental in bringing these books to the spotlight. Both novels would go on to receive national recognition, including Goodreads Choice Awards and positive reviews in The Washington Post. Reese’s interest in the novels also contributed to an increase in their sales, and her production company (Hello Sunshine) has expressed an interest in adapting these novels for Amazon Prime shows.

Karah Preiss’s and Emma Robert’s book club, Belletrist, featured Lily King’s Writers and Lovers, a novel which delivers a stunning account of one writer’s life. Preiss’s and Roberts’s book club helped the novel soar in popularity and attain positive commendation from The New York Times and Goodreads.

Celebrity book clubs and their suggestions also have the power to promote among readers awareness of important topics. Many of Oprah Winfrey’s book club’s suggestions — including Caste by Isabel Wilkson and Deacon King Kong by James McBride, which focus on racial prejudices — feature works that discuss current social issues. As with the other celebrity book clubs, Oprah’s picks received positive reviews on both Goodreads and Barnes & Noble.

Through the guidance of celebrities and their book clubs, twenty-first century readers no longer rely on suggestions from their friends and family. Recommendations from the entertainment industry’s biggest stars are only a click away.